Committee Members

The RGSC Committee consisted of 1 member of the Selectboard, 1 member of the Trustees, 2 members of the Prudential Committee, 3 members from the Village of Essex Junction appointed by the Trustees, and 3 members from the Town outside the Village appointed by the Selectboard.Committee Membership

Committee Goals

At the first meeting, the committee identified five goals:

Ensure that the current quality of recreation services are maintained or enhanced.

Explore all avenues and entities before making a recommendation.

Actively engage the community in the process and keep them informed by making information easily accessible.

Keep the community’s affordability in mind and ensure that the funding structure is fiscally responsible and will be supported by the public.

RGSC Meeting #5-June 1, 2016

Video: Rec Governance Study Committee

There has been a spirit of collaboration, consolidation, and unification between the Village of Essex Junction and Town of Essex since 2013. And, in November 2015, the community voted to unify the schools into the Essex Westford Educational Community Unified Union School District, which will begin in July, 2017. Since Essex Junction Recreation & Parks (EJRP) has lived under the auspices of the Essex Junction School District (EJSD) since 1971, and the formation of the unified district will ultimately lead to the dissolution of EJSD, a decision needed to be made about the future of recreational services in the community. In light of the various efforts to work collaboratively, and due to the impending changes for EJRP’s governance, on February 16, 2016, the Essex Junction Trustees and Essex Selectboard unanimously voted to form a joint municipal survey committee named the Recreation Governance Study Committee (RGSC), who was to study recreation and explore options for potentially restructuring the village and town recreation departments.

In April 2016, the RGSC began meeting with 10 residents representing the Village and Town. Over a period of four months, the Committee conducted a community survey, held meetings, disseminated information to the public, and had discussions with parks and recreation department personnel, legal counsel, school and municipal leaders, and other experts as they explored seven governance models. These models included some that kept the two departments separate and some that would have combined them into one. They ranged from governance through the Village, the Town, under a non-profit, forming an interlocal contract, under the new school district, and forming a recreation district.

​After reviewing all of the information, on June 8, 2016, the committee unanimously (9-0) decided that forming a rec district (Union Municipal District) would best serve the needs of the Essex community for the future of parks and recreation. After identifying the rec district model, by state statute, the committee was tasked with developing the Agreement to form the district. The Agreement is the overarching structure of the organization. The committee spent 9 hours drafting the agreement with the guidance of the Town Attorney. After presenting the draft Agreement to the Prudential Committee, Unified Union School Board, Essex Selectboard, Essex Junction Trustees, and to the public, the Committee made several changes incorporating community feedback. On August 10, 2016, the RGSC unanimously (9-0) approved the Agreement to form the Essex Community Parks & Recreation District. The Agreement has been sent to the Attorney General's Office for review.

Per the Agreement, the district will be called Essex Community Parks & Recreation and will unify Essex Parks & Recreation and Essex Junction Recreation & Parks together as a new municipality. The district will be independent from the schools or municipalities, will have a five member elected board (like the Trustees, Selectboard, Prudential Committee, and Essex Town School Board), and the community will annually vote on the budget by Australian ballot in April (concurrent with school budget vote).

The RGSC will now begin the work of providing information to the community, while the Transition Team, consisting of school, municipal, and recreation personnel, will embark on developing the operational details of the District. The Committee will begin sharing that information with the community this fall. The goal is to provide the community with factual information so that they can make an informed decision on December 13 as to whether or not they support the formation of the Rec District.

Community Survey

The Committee administered a community survey in late April/early May to garner feedback about what mattered most to community members, what the committee should keep in mind, and what types of communication are best to convey information like the rec governance discussion.

The content for this website has been created by the Recreation Governance Study Committee as a way to provide the public with the information that they need to make an informed decision about whether or not to form a union municipal district between the Village of Essex Junction and Town of Essex on December 13, 2016. Questions may be submitted on the FAQ's page.